By Alex Gorrin
Taking into account an unprecedented decision to complete the National Baseball Championship as early as possible in order to avoid repeating instances of late fall (November) final series, the Bulgarian baseball champion for 2016 will be crowned during the summer. The regular season phase ended on July 2 and playoff action commenced on July 9 with the semifinal series. Athletic Sofia and Buffaloes Blagoevgrad swept their respective semifinal series against Sofia Blues and Akademiks Sofia and will repeat the 2015 final. Last year’s final series went the distance with the Buffaloes winning Game 5 in early November to claim their record 20th Bulgarian Championship title. The 2016 Final Series begin on July 16 and July 17 with two games in the Bulgarian capital.
Baseball
June 21
Lions NSA Sofia – Akademiks Sofia 0:16
June 25
Wolves AAS Sofia – Lions NSA Sofia 5:10
Athletic Kozloduy – Akademiks Sofia 1:15
June 26
Lions NSA Sofia – Junak Sofia 19:9
July 2
Athletic Sofia – Junak Sofia 15:0
Sofia Blues – Buffaloes Blagoevgrad 2:20
July 3
Buffaloes Blagoevgrad – Lions NSA Sofia 16:3
Lions NSA Sofia – Buffaloes Blagoevgrad 2:17
Regular Season Standings
1. Buffaloes Blagoevgrad 12:1
2. Sofia Blues 11:3
3. Athletic Sofia 10:3
4. Akademiks Sofia 8:6
5. Lions NSA Sofia 5:9
6. Junak Sofia 4:9
7. Athletic Kozloduy 2:11
8. Wolves AAS Sofia 2:12
Semifinal Playoff Series
July 9
Sofia Blues – Athletic Sofia 0:3
Buffaloes Blagoevgrad – Akademiks Sofia 6:5
July 10
Akademiks Sofia – Buffaloes Blagoevgrad 1:19
Athletic Sofia – Sofia Blues 14:8
In softball, the regular season also ended in early July with those results determining the finalists for 2016. During the fall, the Babes and the Akademiks will begin their Final Series match-up, while the Angels and Athletic will fight for bronze.
Softball
July 2
Angels – Lions 10:0
Babes – Akademiks 6:5
Athletic – Angels 4:14
Lions – Babes 1:20
July 3
Angels – Akademiks 1:7
Lions – Athletic 5:12
Babes – Angels 8:1
Athletic – Babes 4:6
Regular Season Standings
1. Babes Blagoevgrad 9:2
2. Akademiks Sofia 9:3
3. Angels Dupnitsa 5:6
4. Athletic Sofia 4:8
5. Lions NSA Sofia 1:9